Food. Filipino Food.

October 2008

October 26, 2008

The Rachael Ray 30-minute approach to cooking meals is completely lost on me. It's not that I don't think cooking a weeknight's dinner in a quick and efficient manner is a bad idea--it's brilliant actually--it's just that I am molasses-slow in the kitchen. Constructing an entire meal in 30 minutes or less would be somewhat of
a miracle for me (heck, it sometimes takes me longer than that to drop
a deuce).

I like to move at my own pace and take my sweet lollygaggin' time when I'm in the kitchen. I may look up at the green digits on my microwave clock one moment, look back down at whatever I'm chopping, stirring, or cursing at, and then look back up at that clock an hour later not realizing how much time has lapsed (or that my wife is hunched over on the couch with a painfully grumbly tummy).

And this is why the wife cooks a bulk of the meals during the busy work week, and on the lazy weekends I'm on kitchen duty. When we do plan meals during the week that I will be cooking, I usually have to do the prep work the day before so that we can eat at a decent hour the following evening.

But I've recently discovered a Filipino dish that seemingly allows me to bend the space-time continuum so that I can feed the wife and myself on a weeknight. I don't even have to fake "the gout" and take a half-day at work so I can have more prep time in the kitchen (not that I've ever faked "the gout" before, ahem).

This dish I speak of is Bistek--which is just beef marinated in soy and kalamansi and then cooked with onions. That's it. No, seriously. That's all Bistek is. Just take some meat, soak it in some soy and kalamansi juice for half an hour, then throw everything into a pan (marinade and all) with onions, serve with rice, and enjoy.

Saucy

I realize I'm probably the last Pinoy on the planet to discover the quickness (the quickness!) with which Bistek can be made, but better late than never I say. I've also read that the word "Bistek" is a Filipino corruption of the English word "Beef Steak". But I don't believe this explanation of nomenclature considering there are numerous Latin dishes that go by the name "Bistec Encebollado" (also steak and onions). So, like many other Filipino dishes, I'm pretty sure our Bistek, at least in name, is of Spanish origin as well.

Considering this connection to Spain, I found another use for Bistek via Mexico (Spain once governed its Philippine colony from Mexico [confusing, but true]). Instead of cooking the beef and onions in the marinade on the stove, I grilled the steak and onions on my barbecue:

Grilled Bistek

I then sliced the meat and threw it into a tortilla topped with the onions, some queso de bola (edam) cheese and some cilantro:

Bistek Tacos

The Bistek Tacos would probably also fare well with a little topping of Atchara as well. Although the Bistek Tacos lack the sauce that the traditional preparation includes, the longer marination of the meat ensures the maximum toyomansi taste (flava in ya mouf!).

I used sirloin for the traditional Bistek, and flank steak for the tacos, but I think either meat would work for either situation. I found both applications to be amazingly easy to prepare and were perfect for a quick midweek dinner.

Place the beef, kalamansi juice, soy sauce, and garlic in a large zip-top bag, or in a shallow dish, and marinate in the refrigerator for 30 mins.

Heat the oil in a large saute pan or skillet over medium-high heat. Remove the meat from the marinade (reserve marinade, do not discard marinade) and sear the meat on all sides, 4-5 minutes total. Remove meat from pan, place the meat in a bowl, and set aside. If the pan is dry, add a bit more oil. Add the onion rings to the pan and saute for 3 minutes.

Pour the reserved marinade into the pan with the onions, being sure to deglaze and scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon or spatula. Bring the liquid to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the black pepper to the sauce and taste for seasoning. If the sauce is too salty, or too sour, add 1/2 cup of water if necessary. You can also add water if you just want to have more sauce.

Add the meat back to the pan and cook for another 2 minutes. You can also thicken the sauce with cornstarch if desired. Serve with rice.

Place the beef, kalamansi juice, soy sauce, and garlic in a large
zip-top bag, or in a shallow dish, and marinate in the refrigerator overnight.

Cut the onion into 1/4-inch slices, then place the onion slices on skewers so that they are easier to grill. Brush the onion slices with olive oil, then sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Remove the meat from the marinade; reserve the marinade. Place the meat and onion skewers on a hot grill over high heat. Grill the meat and onions for 10-12 minutes total for medium-rare meat, brushing occasionally with the reserved marinade. Remove the steak and onions from the grill and allow the steak to rest for 10 minutes. Discard the leftover marinade.

Thinly slice the steak against the grain. Place the steak and onions in warmed tortillas, then top with cheese and cilantro.

October 24, 2008

Word on the street is that a particular Ramones fan with a taste for world cuisine is in the Philippines right now (as in right this instant). I just received an email from Paoix over at One Filipino Dish A Week that alerted me to this little tidbit:

That's right, Anthony Bourdain is in the Philippines (at long last) filming an episode of "No Reservations." So to all the peeps in the 'Peens who didn't already know, keep an eye out for him. And tell a friend.

October 19, 2008

As I've demonstrated a few times within this space, the Filipino cooking method of Adobo is quite versatile. So far I've made duck adobo, pork ribs adobo, squid adobo, and two kinds of chickenadobo. While all of these adobos have leaned towards the protein side of the meal, all manner of vegetable adobos can be prepared as well.

Yup, you can pretty much adobo-ize anything so long as you braise it in a mixture of vinegar, salt and/or soy, black peppercorns, and bay leaves.

One very common vegetable adobo is Adobong Kangkong. Kangkong, also known as rau muong in Vietnam or ong choy in China, is a leafy green vegetable eaten all over Asia. Kangkong have long hollow stems, and long, narrow, pointy leaves. Both the stems and leaves are edible.

October 12, 2008

Last week, the wife and I had the good fortune to again meet up with another fantastic food blogger. Mark, from No Special Effects, was in L.A. from the Philippines for a few days so we decided to snatch him away from his hotel in El Segundo and take him to one of our favorite watering holes: Father's Office.

Although F.O. is known for its burgers (some say the best in Los Angeles), I'm drawn there for the semi-hard-to-find microbrewed beers and cocktails (there are two F.O. locations: one in Santa Monica and one in Culver City/Los Angeles, and only the L.A. locale serves the cocktails). In fact, we live about an hour from F.O. but the wife and I manage to go there a few times a year just to wet our whistles.

Even though F.O. boasts a highly regarded burger, I still prefer that of ol' reliable In-N-Out or even the burgers at Apple Pan. Don't get me wrong, the Office Burger is a great burger, but I'm more of an old-fashioned simple burger type, whereas the Office Burger is somewhat of an upscale gourmet sandwich that features a patty of great quality ground beef topped with arugula, gruyere and maytag bleu cheeses, and a compote of onions and bacon, all pressed between a kaiser roll.

With that said, no matter how much I tell myself "I'll try something else this time" whenever I step into F.O., I still find myself always ordering their burger--I feel like I'm missing out if I don't order it. This time around, the wife and I split a burger, some sweet potato fries, and a wonderful heirloom tomato salad that was dressed with ricotta cheese, herbs and microgreens, and a cucumber vinaigrette. Mark had himself an Office Burger of his own (which he seemed to enjoy) and some regular fries.

During the course of a Negroni cocktail and 2 or 3 or 4 beers (I lost count), we discussed things like Saturday Night Live, The Office, rampant STDs at USC, and the strictness of Filipino parents. The range of this conversation was perhaps due in large part to the aforementioned beverages that I consumed, so I'm not totally sure that Mark completely followed my ramblings. Luckily, my wife was in tow to keep me and my liver in check.

October 07, 2008

I sometimes find myself wondering if I'd be more "ecologically responsible" if Captain Planet had aired during the '80s with the rest of my favorite childhood cartoons (e.g. G.I. Joe, Transformers, and Voltron).

But because Cappy aired during my angry teenage years in the '90s, I always viewed that cartoon as somewhat corny and sissified (heck, I even watched Jem and She-ra during the '80s, and I still liked those better than Captain Planet).

Despite the absence of this green-mulleted, blue-skinned, red underwear-wearing superhero during my formative years, I still try to live and eat as green as possible as an adult. That's not to say that I'm some kind of eco-freak (not that there's anything wrong with that), but I try to do what I can when it comes to how my food choices affect the planet: I eat as locally and organically as I can (though it's not always possible) and I go out of my way to not be wasteful of food.

More recently though, I've started to learn a bit about sustainable seafood and how overfishing certain species of fish can not only lead to the possible extinction of these fish, but can also cause terrible repercussions in the oceans and the rest of the world.